The technical disclosure relates generally to voice conferencing. More particularly, the technical disclosure relates to allowing a spatial audio direction to be specified using a telephony user interface such that different directions may be perceived for voices associated with a conference call.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) utilizes a packet-switched network to transport voice data. Conventional telephones, such as those connected through a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) to a packet voice gateway, may use VoIP as an intermediate transport medium. Internet Protocol (IP) telephones and software-implemented telephones are connected directly to a packet network may communicate using VoIP. IP telephones are often stereo capable. Hence, users of such IP telephones may experience stereo audio features in a voice stream, e.g., when the users use headsets with their IP telephones. This stereo capability may be further enhanced to provide spatial locations for the different audio sources. For example, a user may assign particular directions to different voice sources associated with a conference call such that he or she may effectively perceive each voice source as coming from a different direction. By assigning different directions to different voice sources, a user may more readily identify the voice sources. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) on computers are used by users to assign directions to voice sources associated with a conference call. Specifically, a computer display is used to enable a user to view and to select voice directions or spatial audio directions.